If Pirates of the Caribbean and One Piece taught us anything, it would be that humans must heed the call for treasure! Exhausted by a long and testing excavation, nothing raises the moral like discovering a mysterious puzzle deciphered by only a select few. Even though they are not a new phenomenon, Easter Eggs are almost a must in today’s entertainment industry. Developers love to sprinkle little nuggets of gold across their creations, while gamers will go to the ends of the Earth to uncover any morsel of content. Talk about a match made in heaven!
If something is included in a game’s code, we should safely be able to assume that developers intended for players to interact with it; otherwise, why even bother writing the data? Alas, that is not always the case! Game development is riddled with false starts and dropped mechanics, so the final project is bound to carry several loose ends. If a committed customer applies pressure to the right spots, they might be rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to peek behind the curtain! Hunting for lost levels or obscure secrets adds another unintentional dimension to the experience, one that should have remained on the editing room’s floor. It is almost like a game within a game!
Be it secret messages or unfinished content, the PlayStation houses some of the best-kept secrets in gaming, although they clearly were not concealed well enough. Here are 25 hidden secrets in PlayStation games they never wanted us to find!
25 Crash Bandicoot’s Second Lost Level
Oh, to be ten years old again! As time travel has yet to be made available to the public, ’90s kids yearning for a dose of good old-fashioned nostalgia must settle for Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. Unless gaming skills are inversely proportioned to one’s age, Vicarious Visions’ remaster ramps up the original’s difficulty and even released an extraordinarily challenging lost level as a bonus. While “Stormy Ascent” finally saw the light of day, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex’s “Fire Island” has had no such luck.
24 Less Bizarro, More Sephiroth
Towards the end of Square’s magnum opus, Sephiroth transforms into a slew of grotesque monstrosities that would slip seamlessly into one of Junji Ito’s manga. Apparently, something was lost during the translation process, as the English version’s Bizarro Sephiroth is actually meant to be Rebirth Sephiroth. This fight occurs after Cloud drops the antagonist into the Mako Pit, so the Japanese name is a better fit than the Western alternative; nevertheless, there is no denying that SoulStryder210’s Sephiroth is bizarre.
23 The Song Of Adventure
From Crash Bandicoot’s streamlined levels to Uncharted: Lost Legacy’s Indian jungles, Naughty Dog’s output looks to be forever stuck on an upward trajectory. A peak approached by precious few developers, The Last of Us proved to be an ideal swan song for the PlayStation 3. Opting for a more grounded tone, Joel’s perilous venture sheds any sense of lavishness found in Nathan Drake’s escapades, but the studio found a way to pay tribute to themselves. Wishing to provide a small respite from the suffocating dread and David, The Last of Us’ lightest moments involve Ellie learning to whistle. When the teenager finally gets the hang of it, she celebrates by whistling Uncharted’s theme.
22 Destroyer Of Worlds
Santa Monica’s hack-and-slash franchise harbors little interest in adhering to Greek mythology. While things generally work out, the story has a couple of lingering plot holes which cannot be entirely justified. For example, Perseus’ claim to fame is shortening Medusa by an inch, an act pulled off by Kratos in God of War. Unfortunately, this means that Perseus lacks any reason for existing. After besting the (pointless) hero, players can unlock an interesting Easter Egg that sheds light on whether Kratos should be recognized as a hero. Spoiler Alert: No.
21 Darker Than Klonoa
Earning near-universal critical acclaim, Namco’s Klonoa: Door to Phantomile centers around the adventures of an anthropomorphic feline and his spiritual companion Huepow. Originally, Hideo Yoshizawa intended to craft a much darker platformer with a serious storyline but opted to alter the tone due to the PlayStation already having its fair share of grim titles. Yoshizawa’s initial concept sounds fascinating, but Klonoa: Door to Phantomile struck the perfect balance between comedy and tragedy. More importantly, why are we still waiting for a Klonoa 3? If Bubsy managed to score a sequel, Klonoa deserves better than a cameo in a couple of Tales Of… games!
20 Ratchet’s Lost Weapon
Trading one brilliant franchise for another, Insomniac Games superseded Spyro with the equally splendid Ratchet & Clank. A mechanic who dreams of becoming a hero, the eponymous Lombax unlocks countless of weapons across his multiple adventures with Clank. Focusing more on guns than platforming, Ratchet & Clank’s cover clearly illustrates Insomniac’s shift towards a more action-based experience. While the picture paints quite an explosive portrait, a number of those weapons are nowhere to be seen in the actual game. A Lombax’s pockets are only so deep!
19 Eye For A Pebble
Hidetaka Miyazaki’s games never waste an opportunity. There is not a single item in Dark Souls or Bloodborne which lacks a purpose or a hidden secret. As one of the more trivial resources in the latter title, pebbles allow groups of enemies to be separated by giving them a slight knock on the head. As this is Bloodborne, a rock cannot simply be a rock; theories suggest these pebbles are actually petrified Bloodshot Eyeballs. Is there anything to back this up? Well, the item is commonly dropped by Carrion Crows and Eye Collectors…
18 An Early Supper
Resident Evil 4 sprinkled a dash of Hollywood action over its horror-themed shooter. Even if the latter games took things a tad too far, Capcom’s 2005 release holds up surprisingly well and remains one of Resident Evil’s crowning accomplishments. Going up against hundreds of malnourished monstrosities yearning to turn the federal agent into swiss cheese, Leon knows better than to relax his guard or waste ammo. If a player doubles down and aimlessly fires into the lake near the Spanish village, an annoyed Del Lago leaps up and swallows Leon.
17 The Impossible Shirley
Released at the turn of the century, The Legend of Dragoon is a glorious JRPG that was lost in the shuffle amidst titles like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Stepping into the shoes of Dart, players unlock the ability to transform into a Dragoon. If that was not cool enough, the story has the protagonist going up against multiple powerful bosses; however, Shirley’s Dragoon form is not one of them. SCE Japan Studio created but blocked this fight due to the White-Silver Dragoon’s unlimited MP and ability to completely heal her HP. Somewhere in the world, a modder continues their decade-long battle against the undefeatable Shirley…
16 Snake Vs. Meryl
If Metal Gear Solid’s continuity is anything to go by, Hideo Kojima’s mind operates at a separate wavelength to the vast majority of us. All the crazy twists in the world mean nothing if a game’s mechanics fall short, but that has never really been a problem with Metal Gear Solid. An experience designed to subvert expectations, Kojima’s stealth series loves to surprise players by pulling the rug from underneath our feet. Metal Gear Solid allows Snake to hit Meryl, but such an act comes with consequences; for every punch, the soldier reacts with a firm slap that eats away at Snake’s health.
15 Tony Redgrave
The fact that Devil May Cry started out as a Resident Evil spin-off is part of gaming folklore. Directed by Hideki Kamiya, Dante took on an entirely new form due to the title’s gameplay deviating too substantially from the horror series. Nevertheless, the investigator has not forgotten his origins. In the anime adaptation, Dante uses Tony Redgrave as an alias, which is a direct reference to Resident Evil’s Chris Redfield. Devil May Cry 5’s demon-infested metropolis also goes by the name of Red Grave City.
14 Eye Of The Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus is a heartbreaking tale about a boy who is willing to sell his humanity to save the one person that matters the most to him. In order to revive Mono, Wander must slay 16 beautiful creatures known as colossi. While these sentient skyscrapers might look like typical monsters, the protagonist is the story’s true villain. Team Ico planned to further highlight this point by allowing players to observe the fight from the perspective of the colossi. Sadly, Eye of the Colossus proved to be rather unstable, so the item never made it out of the preview phase.
13 Bubsy Saves Nobody
Bubsy 3D is gaming’s equivalent to The Room. Actually, that is probably a disservice to the latter, as Tommy Wiseau’s epic can be enjoyed as an unintentional comedy; however, Bubsy 3D delivers nothing but pain and sadness. Is there any way this abomination could be made to look worse? How about the fact that Lani Minella handles all the voice acting? Wait, there is more! The American version is beyond terrible, but European copies do not even support memory cards, despite presenting a Save/Load option on the title screen. Bubsy 3D loved to toy with gamers!
12 Twisted Metal Dreams
As deranged as they come, Twisted Metal makes other demolition derbies seem like Mario Kart. Besides serving as the franchise’s poster clown, Needles Kane sits among the top tier mascots associated with the PlayStation brand. Considered to be among the best in the series, Twisted Metal: Black ramped up the insanity to unprecedented heights; however, Minion’s loading screens suggest that Calypso’s contest is merely a figment of Kane’s imagination. Candidly, we believe the former is just jealous of the clown’s popularity. After all, Sweet Tooth’s driver is the living embodiment of mental health…
11 Another Side, Another Story
When putting together Kingdom Hearts’ storyline, Square and Disney seemed driven by a frustrating desire to confuse their audience beyond the point of belief. 2019 appears to be the year that Kingdom Hearts 3 transforms into something more than a dream, but the action-RPG series has spawned nearly ten titles and a bunch of remixes. Another Side, Another Story is a secret ending found in the original Kingdom Hearts that introduced Roxas and depicted Mickey wielding Sora’s Keyblade. The easiest way to unlock this cutscene is to complete the Hades Cup and collect all 99 puppies. Actually, “easy” might not be the right word…
10 Crocodiles Do Not Swim!
Nowadays, AAA studios hype up their biggest titles by publishing multiple trailers focusing on unique elements of the experience. Whether showcasing the story or the gameplay, the purpose is to provide potential customers with enough information to decide if the title is something they might enjoy. Occasionally, trailers are created years prior to the release date, so there might be footage which gets cut. Croc 2’s video showed the protagonist swimming through an underground level, which never happens during the game. Croc prefers dry land.
9 Chocobo Japan
Building on the success of the PlayStation One, Sony published an adorable accessory called the PocketStation. Offering the same options as a typical memory card, players could unlock mini-games by linking the device to the console. For example, completing Chocobo World was the only way to unlock an array of nifty Final Fantasy VIII items. Unfortunately, anyone outside of Japan was completely out of luck, as the PocketStation never reached Western shores. Sure, the mini-game was pretty terrible, but our younger selves would have appreciated the opportunity to learn that through experience!
8 Kratos’ Navi
While traversing the perils and trials that plague game development, certain ideas must be sacrificed for the greater good. Even if something sounds fantastic on paper, it might not translate flawlessly to the screen. In the case of God of War, David Jaffe considered providing Kratos with a companion similar to Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. After ignoring the grumpy protagonist for an hour or two, Kratos would retire his partner from the adventure. We are definitely not in Hyrule anymore.
7 Crash’s Lost Cartoon
During the late ’90s, 3D gaming was on the rage. Super Mario 64, Spyro, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time teleported players into digital worlds packed with personality and life. Naughty Dog’s Crash Bandicoot sits among the most iconic early 3D franchises, but history could have been forever changed if the studio went ahead with their initial plans to use animated cutscenes. Luckily, Sony preferred to push 3D graphics, so the cartoon was scrapped. The scenes are available to watch on YouTube, although it was probably the correct move to leave them out of the game.
6 Smells Like Victory (And Cars)
When implemented properly and purposely, gimmicks can improve the overall experience. Problems start when publishers shake a pointless accessory in front of customers and pretend their futuristic non-sense is anything more than a temporary fad. Who needs celebrity editions of video games? If a gimmick can be removed without altering the overall package, then there is no justification for its existence. Thankfully, such a claim cannot be leveled at Gran Turismo 2’s scratch and sniff feature! Unless our room smells like a pit stop, there is really no point in playing a racer!
